Spring clip retainer means for air bearing magnetic transducer assemblies



Sept. 24, 1968 c. R. LINSLEY 3,403,388

SPRING CLIP RETAINER MEANS FOR AIR BEARING MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLIES Filed Feb. 21, 1966 FIG 4 INVENTOR. CLARENCE R. LINSLEY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,403,388 SPRING CLIP RETAINER MEANS FOR AIR BEAR- ING MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLIES Clarence R. Linsley, La Crescenta, Calif., assignor to General Precision Systems Inc., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 528,967 8 Claims. (Cl. 340174.1)

This invention relates to a retainer means which is useful in retaining the transducer assemblies used with rotating memories to their spring biasing means and supports thereof, and more particularly to a novel and improved spring clip which may be permanently affixed to a transducer assembly and adapted to retain the transducer assembly to a spring biasing means and support mounting and still allow pivotal movement between the spring biasing means and the transducer assembly. Further, the spring clip of this invention allows ease in removing and replacing the transducer assembly to the spring means.

The transducer assembly of which this invention is useful is of the type wherein a read/ record head is mounted in a spring biased shoe which floats on a laminar air film between the shoe and the surface of a rotating memory member. Such a transducer assembly is explained in copending application for a United States Letters Patent of Clarence R. Linsley, S.N. 511,156, entitled, Transducer Assembly, filed Dec. 2, 1965.

A problem which occurs in transducer assemblies of the type described is that when a retraction mechanism is used, which actually lifts the transducer assemblies from the surface of the rotating memory members, the laminar air film is no longer suflicient to secure the transducer assemblies to the spring means. One example of such a retraction mechanism is described in co-pending application for a United States Letters Patent of Clarence R. Linsley, SN. 01,352, entitled Dynamic Magnetic Memory Transducer Positioning Apparatus, filed Oct. 22, 1965.

Briefiy described, the present invention provides a spring clip retainer means which is useful for retaining transducer assemblies to their spring biasing means. The spring clip comprises a main body which has a pair of resilient arms extending normal to the main body. The main body contains a 90 degree bend wherein this bend may be securely affixed to the transducer assembly, and the resilient arms may extend across the spring biasing means which may be in the form of a leaf spring and are brought to bear upon ball pivot means which may be employed therewith, thus retaining the spring means be tween the ball mums and the spring clip.

It is one object of this invention to provide a spring clip useful with transducer assemblies for maintaining the spring biasing means to the transducer assembly.

Another object of this invention is to provide a spring clip useful with a transducer assembly which is easy to remove and replace the transducer assembly to the spring biasing means.

In the drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a transducer assembly incorporating one embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation view of the embodiment taken along the lines 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of this invention taken along the lines 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the spring clip embodied in this invention and apart from the transducer assembly.

Turning now to a detailed description of one preferred embodiment of this invention, a transducer assembly comprises a plurality of read/record heads 12 mounted to shoe 14. A leaf spring 16 resiliently bears upon the 3,403,388 Patented Sept. 24, 1968 ice shoe 14 forcing it toward the surface of a rotating recording member 18, which is embodied herein in the form of a magnetic recording disc and will be referred to herein as disc 18. Spring 16 may be of the bifurcated type which has a pair of tynes 22 and 24. One end of the leaf spring is coupled to a stationary member 26 and may be clamped in place by a plate 28. The other end of the leaf spring 16 bears upon the vertex of wedge 30 which is coupled to the shoe 14. A pair of balls 32 and 34 placed upon the wedge 30 pivotally mount the shoe 14 to the spring 16 by having a pair of holes in the ends of leaf spring 16 to receive the balls 32 and 34. Such physical and pivotal connection between spring biasing means 16 and the shoe 14 of the transducer assembly 10 is shown in c0- .pending application for United States Letters Patent for a Transducer Assembly, S.N. 501,899, filed Oct. 22, 1965, in the name of John A. Felts, and assigned to the same assignee.

By this invention, a T-shape spring clip 36 comprises a main body portion 40 having a degree angle therein comprising a pair of extension arms 42 and 44 extending above the main body portion 40 defining a T-shape configuration best illustrated in FIGURE 4. A hole 46 is placed within the main body portion 40 for securing it to the shoe 14 of the transducer assembly 10. Particularly, the spring clip 36 may be aflixed to the shoe 14 by a threaded member such as the screw 48. By the particular embodiment shown, the wedge 30 has a fiat body extension 50 which is used to secure the wedge 30 to the shoe 14 in a suitable manner. A hole may be provided within the fiat body portion 50 having clearance therein for the screw 48 to be secured directly into the top surface of the shoe 14. To assemble the transducer assembly, the 90 degree angle in the main body portion 40 of the spring clip 36 is positioned substantially on front of the balls 32 and 34 or on the side opposite the transducer 10 and the wedge 30. Thus the balls 32 and 34 are positioned between the read/record heads 12 and the ends 42 and 44 of the spring clip 36.

Next, the arms 42 and 44 are placed behind the balls 32 and 34 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, thereby necessitating a bend to be placed in the arms 42 and 44 of the spring clip 36 as shown in FIGURE 3. Thus, spring clip 36 being made of a resilient material is thereby caused to resiliently bear on the balls 32 and 34.

For insertion and removal of the shoe 10 from the spring 16 relative movement is needed between the shoe 14 and the spring 16 whereby they are angularly separated, causing the lower end of the holes provided in the tynes 22 and 24 to clear the balls 32 and 34 and thereby allowing them to be drawn out. Insertion of the spring tynes 22 and 24 is the reverse operation. By maintaining the angle that was used to remove the spring clip 36, the ends of tynes 22 and 24 are placed between the balls 32 and 34 and the arms 42 and 44 of spring clip 36, and applying pressure, the balls 32 and 34 will be fitted into the holes provided in the tynes 22 and 24.

Thus having explained one embodiment of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A transducer assembly having:

a shoe being capable of floating upon a laminar air film which is created upon the moving surface of a rotating memory member;

a spring means for urging said shoe toward the moving surface;

at least one connecting means mounted to said shoe on the side opposite the moving surface, said connecting means being pivotally coupled to said spring means; and

a spring clip means for retaining said shoe to said spring means, said spring clip means being securely mounted to said shoe and having at least one resilient arm which extends over said spring means and resiliently contacts said connecting means.

2. A transducer assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said connecting means is a ball and said resilient arm of said spring clip means is capable of resiliently contacting said ball.

3. A transducer assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein;

said spring means has one end coupled to a member which is stationary relative to said moving surface, said spring means has a hole in the other end thereof which mates with said ball, and said resilient arm of said spring clip means is capable of extending over said spring means and is capable of resiliently contacting said ball.

4. A transducer assembly as defined in claim 1 and wherein:

said spring means is a bifurcated leaf spring having a pair of tynes on one end and the other end thereof is coupled to a member which is stationary relative to said moving surface, each tyne of said bifurcated spring having a circular hole;

said connecting means is a pair of balls laterally disposed and fixedly mounted to said shoe on the side opposite the moving surface, the holes in the tynes of said bifurcated spring being mated with said balls; and

said spring clip means has a pair of resilient arms extending across the tynes of said bifurcated spring capable of resiliently contacting said ball.

5. A transducer assembly as defined in claim 4 ineluding:

means for maintaining the tynes of said bifurcated spring above the surface of said shoe and in contact with the resilient arms of said spring clip means, said means for maintaining the tynes above the surface of said shoe being coupled to said shoe and in contact with the tynes of said bifurcated spring.

6. A transducer assembly as defined in claim 4, said spring clip means being securely mounted to said shoe,

4 said spring clip means being disposed substantially along a center line extending between the laterally disposed balls, said spring clip means having a pair of resilient arms extending laterally with said shoe and parallel to the center line of said laterally disposed balls, and the resilient arms of said spring clip means being disposed substantially behind said balls and over the tynes of said bifurcated spring.

7. A spring clip useful in retaining the shoe of a transducer assembly which is adapted to float upon the surface of a rotating memory member to a spring biasing means which is used to force the shoe towards the surface of the rotating memory member comprising:

a main body portion capable of being coupled to the shoe and extending normal to a surface of the shoe on a side opposite the surface of the rotating memory member; and at least one resilient arm extending from said main body portion lateral to the surface of the shoe which is on the side opposite the surface of the rotating memory member, said resilient arm being capable of extending across the spring biasing means and thereby retaining the spring biasing means to the shoe. 8. A spring clip as defined in claim 7 wherein the spring biasing means comprises a leaf spring and the shoe is pivotally mounted to the leaf spring by ball means, and said resilient arm extends across the leaf spring and resiliently bears upon the ball means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,243,790 3/1966 Powers 340174.1 3,197,751 7/1965 Felts 340l74.1 2,862,781 12/1958 Baumeister 340174.l

BERNARD KONICK, Primary Examiner.

A. I. NEUSTADT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TRANSDUCER ASSEMBLY HAVING: A SHOE BEING CAPABLE OF FLOATING UPON A LAMINAR AIR FILM WHICH IS CREATED UPON THE MOVING SURFACE OF A ROTATING MEMORY MEMBER; A SPRING MEANS FOR URGING SAID SHOE TOWARD THE MOVING SURFACE; AT LEAST ONE CONNECTING MEANS MOUNTED TO SAID SHOE ON THE SIDE OPPOSITE THE MOVING SURFACE, SAID CONNECTING MEANS BEING PIVOTALLY COUPLED TO SAID SPRING MEANS; AND A SPRING CLIP MEANS FOR ROTAINING SAID SHOE TO SAID SPRING MEANS, SAID CLIP MEANS BEING SECURELY MOUNTED TO SAID SHOE AND HAVING AT LEAST ONE RESILIENT ARM WHICH EXTENDS OVER SAID SPRING MEANS AND RESILIENTLY CONTACTS AND CONNECTING MEANS. 